Three minutes: the bleeding clock, and the three items I carry for it

Why three minutes

I learned that number in Special Forces, not on a first aid course. The American College of Surgeons, which runs the Stop the Bleed programme, puts it at as little as five minutes for severe blood loss. Pick either figure. On a Himalayan road there's often no buddy and no medic. Just you and whatever's bleeding.

The kit: three items

• Tourniquet. For heavy bleeding from an arm or leg that pressure won't stop.
• Gauze. You pack it into the wound and press on it.
• Israeli bandage. An emergency pressure dressing that holds pressure on the wound once it's packed.

What to do with it

Stop the Bleed teaches three actions. Make sure the scene is safe and call for help first. Then:

1. 01Press. Hard, steady pressure on the wound with your hands.
2. 02Pack. Push gauze or cloth deep into the wound until it's full, then press on the packing with both hands.
3. 03Tourniquet. If the wound is on an arm or leg and still bleeding, put the tourniquet 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 inches) above it, never on the elbow or knee. Tighten it until the bleeding stops, write down the time, and leave it on until help arrives. It will hurt. It's meant to: it presses the vessels against the bone.

Train your hands, not your shelf

A tourniquet you've never tightened is dead weight. Do a hands-on course and practise until the steps are automatic. Stop the Bleed lists courses at stopthebleed.org.

On our tours

On the Ladakh expedition, the support vehicle carries a medical kit and oxygen, and we carry a satellite phone for stretches with no mobile network. None of that reaches you in the first three minutes. Whoever is standing closest does. I'd rather that person knew what to do.